The India Association Hong Kong
The India Association Hong Kong (the “Association”) is committed to preserve, promote and celebrate our Indian heritage whilst serving the broader community in the city we are proud to call home.
Our ongoing commitment is made evident by organising cultural and social functions, community outreach and working with NGOs and the Hong Kong Government on policy issues.
Details of the Association’s main activities are provided below.
Cultural and Social Functions
The Association hosts a number of social functions each year. Preserving festivals and events is an important way of retaining our cultural identity. In addition, we hold networking events for our members and celebrate India’s Independence Day annually with great pride and style. This annual cocktail reception is attended by prominent members from the government, consular services and the Indian as well as other communities of Hong Kong.
Community Outreach
Through its sub-committees, the Association works amongst the broader Hong Kong community to enhance and promote our Indian identity and to ensure our community and other ethnic minorities are properly integrated into Hong Kong society.
The Association awards scholarships to local Hong Kong students and gives recognition to public servants who have served the community selflessly. We participate annually in the Community Chest Walk and are one of the largest fund raisers for this event
More recently, we have also played a key role in ensuring the availability of dental care, blood pressure monitoring, flu and pneumococcal vaccinations members of the Indian and other communities.
Policy Issues
We work with Government departments and make representations to senior officials and legislators on matters of importance to the Indian community. We also make detailed annual submissions to the Administration with respect to the Chief Executive’s Policy Address. Submissions made are available to be viewed (include link)
Where appropriate, we work in conjunction with other ethnic communities. In particular, we have a keen interest in issues relating to education policy and improving employment policy for Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities.
We encourage all those who share our vision to join us and become a part of shaping the next chapter of the Association‘s story.
Alternatively email [email protected] for more details.
History
Even though the India Association in Hong Kong incorporated as an association only in December 1965, it was actually founded as early as 1948 in the post war years immediately following India’s Independence in 1947. A few members of the Indian community – such as Mr P. Vaswani, Mr. F.T. Melwani and Mr. Ujagar Singh – with a keen civic sense and a commitment to the social well-being of the community, got together and gave Hong Kong Indians the India Association.
From small and humble beginnings, the Association has grown into a non-profit, non-sectarian organization we can all be proud of. In an alien cultural environment, traditional culture of an expatriate community trends to become obsolescent as time goes by. In retrospect, we can see that the India Association made an early commitment to promote our heritage through cultural and social functions organized by the Association on a fairly frequent basis right through the years. This ongoing commitment of the India Association to Indian culture made itself evident through their organizing the Diwali Ball each year. Observing traditional festivals is one way of retaining cultural identity, and the Association and its leaders very well knew it.
See the latest happenings at the India Association
Independence Day Celebrations
Happy Hours – Oct 2024
Ribbon cutting at IBEL Rusy and Purviz Shroff Charitable Foundation Kindergarten
Embrace Indian Heritage: Join Us in Celebrating Diversity!
Mr. Mohan Chugani
President
Mr. Vijay Harilela
Vice President
Mr. Vishal Melwani
Vice President
Mr. Rakesh Sippy
Hon. Secretary
Mr. Arun Nigam
Hon. Treasurer
Mr. Notan Tolani
Committee Member
Mr. Ramesh Mahtani
Committee Member
Mr. Richard Albuquerque
Committee Member
Mr. Ramadasan M.V.
Committee Member
Mr. Kamal Nankani
Committee Member
Mr. Mukesh Asnani
Committee Member
Mr. Deep Singh Vinner
Committee Member
- Application for membership may be in the form of “Life Member” or “Associate Life Member”.
- Only Life Members shall be entitled to vote at General Meetings and be entitled to be elected officers and or members of the Committee of the Association.
- Only Indians of the age of 21 years and over shall be admitted as Life Members. Any other persons of the age of 21 years and over may be admitted as Associate Life Members. Associate Life Members shall not be entitled to vote at General Meetings and shall not be entitled to be elected fficers or members of the Committee of the Association.
- Corporate Members are permitted to nominate two persons as their nominees.
- To apply for membership, please download and complete the IA Membership Application form or the Corporate Membership Application found below. The application fee for Individual Membership is currently HK$2,000, and Corporate Membership is currently HK$5,000. The completed application together with the cheque should be submitted to the address as indicated on the form.
- The Committee shall at its meeting, consider the application and you shall be notified of the result as soon as the Committee has reached its decision.
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